Health & Medicine

American scientists have shown that the traditional methods of treating cancer with drugs that reduce their blood supply, can trigger the process of metastasis.

Scientists from the Medical Center Beth Izreyl conducted a series of experiments with different types of tumors and concluded that the traditional treatment based on inhibition of the growth of tumor blood vessels, leading to its aggressive metastasis.

In one experiment genetics health center brought a special kind of mice using a special drug could stop the work of pericytes - special cells located in the vessel wall and is directly involved in angiogenesis.

Thereafter, mice were implanted with breast cancer cells, which eventually formed tumors with well-developed vessels.After use

drug blocking operation pericytes, their number decreased in cancer more than doubled, and the tumor for 25 days decreased in volume by 1/3.At the same time the number of lung metastases in such animals tripled.

On this basis, the researchers concluded that t

he weakened after the use of drugs the tumor becomes loose and prone to metastasize: vessel growth arrest and violation of the tumor supply leads to the desire of cancer cells to survive at any cost, and metastasis in this case - the best way.

Moreover, large tumors with good blood supply to the domestic system have been less dangerous than small, with poorly developed blood supply, which, as it turns out, are the most common cause of metastasis.

The researchers conducted a series of experiments with the most commonly used drugs that suppress angiogenesis in tumor tissue - imatinib and sunitinib.The effect was similar.

findings were repeatedly tested for various types of malignancies, including such as melanoma and renal carcinoma.

then 130 tissue samples were studied, obtained by removing the tumors of breast cancer in women.It was found that the smaller the tumor vascular pericytes was, the more prone to malignant and metastasize it was, and the life span of these patients, even during intensive anticancer therapies has been minimal and never exceeds five.

This forces oncologists take a fresh look at the anatomy of the cancer and its treatment methods.